How we missed any damage with last night's multiple tornadoes, I don't know, but I am more than grateful. Our built - in - thirty - minutes rental does not have a truly adequate place to take shelter, but we settled with the laundry room, hoping we wouldn't end up underneath a washer or dryer! Both bathrooms are on the ends of the house. We laid piles of pillows and blankets and beloved stuffed animals on the floor, and brought L's twin mattress with us and pretty much made that bed for the night. J is too cool to take shelter from tornadoes. He likes to stand on the front porch and greet them. The kids were so calm and brave (even though they made references to the little bit of Desperate Housewives I was watching the night before with Wysteria Lane obliterated by a tornado - NOT the primetime to watch this week!) How we missed our basement!!
We got through two rough pass-by ?tornadoes? and then at about 2:00 things calmed down enough to return to the bedroom. Next thing I knew, J was waking me and said to get back to the laundry room - you all know what your houses sounded like then. Like the bricks were going to fly off one by one and head to the next town. The windows were rattling as if they were loose in their framing. We are fortunate enough to live very close to the siren pole - so there was that kid-friendly music for added effect. Cleared us again. I don't know how we kept dodging the bullet - but I'm so thankful we did.
Through it all, there was that gut feeling of our 90% framed house blowing away. "Uninsurable until able to be locked and enclosed" was what the insurance man had just said when recently asked. We would have been ruined - about $50,000 in labor and framing gone in an instant, with no return. But God is good, and heard my prayers, and protected our partial home over there. J went as soon as soon as he could this morning to assess it all only to meet the 84 lumber guy with a huge load for the decking. I guess it's business as usual for them!
One last thought was how sweet L was with his prayers last night. He was saying "Jesus" so often and thanked Him for our cars, repeatedly. We tried not to frighten them, but it was all very real and unavoidable. With weather like this, we have no power than to pray, duck, and cover.
2 comments:
So glad you and the house are okay! I was wondering about all you Missourians up there. Sounds like a long night.
I am enjoying your blog so much. I haven't had a chance to get aquainted with you. This gives me an opportunity to get to know you and your family. I love it.
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